How To Be Your Own Health Care Advocate

Drug Litigation, Consumer Protection Lawyers

Our health care system is designed to help people who are injured or sick recover from their conditions. While there are many well-meaning and dedicated people in the health care field, mistakes do happen. When they do, patients can become seriously injured.

Passionate Representation, Historic Results
Contact Hersh & Hersh: 1-800-441-5545

Whenever you are dealing with something as important as your health, it makes sense to take steps to protect yourself from potential harm. At Hersh & Hersh, we have spent decades advocating on behalf of people injured by defective drugs and medical devices. Based on this experience, our defective drug attorneys offer the following advice on how you can be your own health care advocate. These few simple tips may prevent you from experiencing a health care disaster. Should an unfortunate event occur, you will have important information to help resolve the issue.

Keep a health care journal — Record the names of your doctors, the dates of your clinic visits or hospital stays, the names and dosages of the medications you are taking and the reason they were prescribed. Keep careful note of any side effects you experience.

Be prepared — Have a list of questions to ask your doctor and write down his or her responses. If you are too sick or otherwise unable to do this yourself, ask someone else to come along to help you. Some hospitals provide a patient advocate to assist you during a hospital stay.

Ask questions — Make sure you understand what actions your doctor is taking and why. If you don’t understand what a drug, treatment or test is for, ask the doctor to explain. If a medication is prescribed, be sure to ask about possible side effects and what you should do if you experience them. Also ask about possible interactions with other drugs you are taking.

If you have been injured by a defective drug or medical device, please contact an attorney at our law firm today. We offer a free consultation to discuss your case and advise you of your rights.

From our offices in San Francisco, California, the lawyers of Hersh & Hersh represent clients injured by defective and dangerous drugs throughout the nation.